Joanna Lumley never thought Queen would honour her for awkward reason as she's made a Dame

Joanna Lumley, 76, looked radiant as she was made a Dame Commander for services to drama, entertainment and charity at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace today.

The Absolutely Fabulous star looked characteristically put together in a fuschia midi blazer dress and a matching hat. 

She paired the eye-catching look with some nude court shoes.

Smiling for the camera, Joanna’s delight was evident as she called the honour “thrilling”. 

“It’s huge. It’s absolutely huge,” she told PA News agency. 

“I mean these are things that, as a child being ticked off and having my prefect badge taken away for smoking, something that you would never dream of is that you would be honoured in Buckingham Palace to become a Dame.”

Joanna added that it was “very different” this time around to when she collected her OBE in 1995. 

“It was in the throne room, which is much smaller and much more intimate,” she said. 

“And instead of an actual military band, playing very softly up there was this beautiful bass and string quartet and it was so charming and so moving.”

She described Princess Anne, who gave her the award, as “so lovely”  and “a wonderful sort of figurehead for women in this country”. 

source: express.co.uk